Lesson 199 - Managing the opening of the crown

From: Yogani
Date: Tue May 25, 2004 6:25pm

New Members: It is recommended you read from the beginning of the web
archive, as previous lessons are prerequisite to this one. The first
lesson is, "Why This Discussion?"


Once we are underway in yoga it is not difficult to open the crown.
The trick is to open it in such a way so as facilitate a smooth and
progressive journey on the path of yoga. If we are premature in
opening the crown, before there is adequate purification in the
nervous system, we can be in for a lot of difficulty with kundalini
excesses, as everything inside us strains to catch up with the huge
pull of energy going up through the crown. So, it is very important
to understand something about the dynamics of the crown in relation
to the purification going on in the rest of our body, and to engage
in practices in such a way so as to purify the entire nervous system
while opening the crown at the same time. This is not as difficult to
do as it sounds, once a good integration of practices is being used.
In fact, if you are using advanced yoga practices as laid out in the
lessons, you have been doing it for some time already. This is the
best way to open the crown – indirectly, without focusing on it until
much later in the game.

The crown is also known as the "sahasrar" – the thousand-petaled
lotus located on top of the head. Physically, it corresponds to the
corona radiata, a mass of nerves located near the top of the head
above the two main ventricles of the brain. When inactive, the energy
rests there in a "skullcap" shape, not noticeable to us. When it is
aroused by the attention, the skullcap turns up to form a cup, or
flower shape, the thousand-petaled lotus. When it is up like that it
is said to be awakened, or opened. We can't miss it then, because
when the crown is in full swing it draws us up inside like a
spiritual vacuum cleaner. This drawing up can be felt deep within our
loins. Kundalini can't resist the temptation of an opened crown and
lurches up toward it. The problem is that, if our nervous system
between the root and the crown is not purified enough, kundalini
energy will begin tearing through everything to get to the crown.
This is what produces so-called excessive kundalini symptoms, which
can include a counterpart of emotional difficulty as well.

A number of traditions encourage going to the crown with practices
early on the journey of yoga. A few even go there first. The results
are predictable – people with kundalini problems, and there have been
quite a few folks that have come to these lessons looking for relief.
Others experience what is called a "spontaneous awakening" of
kundalini. While I cannot prove it, it is my opinion that spontaneous
awakenings are also the product of yoga practices that have gone to
the crown prematurely, but in a past life rather than in this life.
Such people are born in this life "wired" for a spontaneous awaking
due to those long forgotten practices and imbalances stored deep in
the nervous system. Premature awakening of the crown is the number
one cause of excessive kundalini symptoms. It may be the only cause.

Fortunately, good practices for awakening the crown in tandem with
purifying the rest of the nervous system also aid in smoothing energy
imbalances that are a hangover from the past. So there is good news
here for all of us – we who are stable with our energy who want to
finish the journey, and we who have fallen off the wagon with
kundalini difficulties and want to recover the situation and move on
to finish the journey also.

Let's talk about the dynamics of the crown in relation to the rest of
the nervous system. In the recent lesson on mantra design, it
was mentioned that the sushumna has a fork in it in the middle of the
head. One fork goes forward to the point between the eyebrows, and
the other one goes up into the center of the crown. In spinal
breathing we take the front fork with our attention and traverse the
spinal nerve repeatedly with our breath, going between the root and
the point between the eyebrows. In doing so, we are cultivating and
purifying the spinal nerve along that route. The result is a
radiation of purifying life force (prana) going out in all directions
in the nervous system from the spinal nerve.

This radiation of energy from the spinal nerve also goes up the other
fork to the crown. We don't even think about it. We don't put
attention on the crown. Never the less, spinal breathing between the
brow and the root purifies the crown in this way, just as it purifies
all the rest of the nervous system.

A similar effect happens with deep meditation. With the I AM mantra
the crown is naturally permeated with inner silence and is gradually
purified along with the rest of the nervous system. With the mantra
enhancements we gradually expand the mantra in ways that serve
several functions. One of those functions is to bring more purifying
influence to the crown without focusing attention directly on the
crown. It is done through the resonance of the mantra vibration deep
inside us. Samyama amplifies the influence of inner silence in the
nervous system by moving silent awareness out from the inside in
various directions through the nervous system, and the crown receives
its fair share of this moving siddhi silence.

Over time, we add many other practices to stimulate the purification
of the spinal nerve – mudras, bandhas, siddhasana, yoni mudra,
kechari, chin pump, spinal bastrika, and so on. All of these
practices are opening the crown by indirect influences. By awakening
the spinal nerve between the third eye and the root, we are
automatically awakening the crown.

A milestone on our journey is the awakening of ecstatic conductivity.
This is a gentle, gradual, and ecstatic awakening of kundalini. It is
easily recognized by the direct connection that arises between
sambhavi and the pleasurable sensations stimulated at the root. From
there, ecstatic conductivity proceeds gradually with our continuing
daily practices. Once ecstatic conductivity is occurring, we are in
the position to clearly observe for ourselves what the connection is
between the gradually awakening crown and the rest of our nervous
system. If we put our attention up into the rising flower cup on top
of our head, we will feel it pulling us ecstatically upward inside,
from the root all the way up. Don't make an extended practice of
this, because even with ecstatic conductivity awakened it is possible
to overdo and experience excessive energy flows and an emotional
letdown afterward. In other words, ecstatic conductivity is not a
license to go straight to the crown. But we can experiment a little
now and then and get the feel of what is stable and what is not.
Usually any slight excess at the crown experienced in this way will
only last a few hours, or a day, before the energy balances again.

We can touch the crown with attention for short periods in this way
when ecstatic conductivity is awakened, because we have also awakened
the third eye. Having the sushumna awakened between the third eye and
root gives us a stability we did not have before, and a natural inner
energy balance that can be stimulated at any time simply by letting
go into the conductivity occurring between the third eye and the
root. This is the power of a third eye awakening. There is little
that can destabilize it once ecstatic conductivity comes up in the
third eye to root spinal nerve. That is why the third eye (ajna)
means "command." With ecstatic conductivity rising in the sushumna
between the third eye and root, we are in command of the kundalini
process, and having a very good ecstatic time with it too.

As mentioned, this does not mean we can go all out in the crown. Even
a small mess we make at the crown will not be fun, so why do it? Some
have asked, "Why can't I just shift my spinal breathing from the
third eye to root to the crown to root?" Two reasons: First it
curtails the continuing activation of the third eye to root
awakening. Second, it shifts the emphasis of attention to the crown,
which will increase instability in the energy flows. So don't shift
your spinal breathing to the crown. It will not be stable, even for
advanced yogis and yoginis. Just keep going with third eye to root
spinal breathing, deep meditation and all the rest that has been
given, and all the openings will continue to progress rapidly and
smoothly, including at the crown.

With occasional "testing" with awareness placed at the crown from
time to time along the way, eventually those tests will become more
stable. Putting occasional brief awareness at the crown will not be
the cause of this stability. It will only test to see how far the
crown has come in tandem with purification in the rest of the nervous
system. Any stability that comes will be from our integrated advanced
yoga practices. Once some stability does come, we will be able to put
our attention at the crown for a few minutes without falling into
energy difficulties, or an emotional letdown afterward. Then, and
only then, we can have the safe option to let our attention rest at
the crown for a while at the end of practices, before our rest
period. We can be reclined or lying down if we want, and using
sambhavi as we let our attention enter the gorgeous raised crown
flower with the shaft of the radiant sushumna coming up through the
center. Sambhavi adds a layer of both ecstatic bliss and stability,
because it activates the third eye at the same time while the crown
is being stimulated with attention. Maybe we see the crown as a
flower. Maybe a cup. Maybe red. Maybe silver or white. Maybe violet.
It comes in many colors. Some may see it as a cobra with a great
flared hood going up. However we see it, it is how we feel it drawing
us up that will be the in-common experience. As the crown opening and
nearly purified nervous system mature, we are drawn up without the
chaos and mayhem that is so common in premature awakenings. We are
drawn up into pure ecstatic bliss. Then we can surrender...

We may be gone and not know where we were. Or we may have some
celestial visions. When we do come back, we are somehow new,
illuminated, radiating like never before. That is the beginning of
the experience in the awakened crown.

Once we become stable in our visits to the crown, then we can take a
more active role there. Still, we keep all of our advanced yoga
practices the same. But we can add something. It was mentioned in the
last lesson on targeted bastrika. Once our nervous system has been
purified enough to carry the flow of energy stimulated by an open and
active crown, then we can do additional targeted work there. One of
the most efficient ways to do this is by using targeted bastrika
between the crown and the root. We can do it with the crown raised
and open, or closed. The former is more intense. We can use sambhavi
and other mudras and bandhas while we do targeted bastrika between
the crown and root. One thing we do not do, and that is do it without
having met all the prerequisites of targeted bastrika, and also the
testing and gradual development of crown awareness described above.
If we are premature with anything involving attention at the crown,
we will know it within a few hours. This applies especially to
targeted bastrika, which is all-out stimulation of the crown. So, when
targeted bastrika at the crown is undertaken it should be very
sparing at first – not more than a minute at a time in the beginning.
If the result is stable and good in activity, then it can be stepped
up a minute at a time. This practice is done at the same time that
any targeted bastrika is done – at the end of sitting practices,
before rest. The effect of this practice is to bring the environment
of the crown into our daily life. What is that like? "Heaven on
earth" is a phrase that comes to mind.

So carry on with practices, and be mindful not to get too far ahead
of yourself with anything. If you do, you will know soon enough
because it will be uncomfortable. Then the thing to do is back off
immediately to a stable platform of practice. Sometimes we can go
forward faster by going backwards a bit.

It is good to be stubborn about keeping up our routine of twice daily
practices. It is not so good to be stubborn about overdoing
practices. That applies especially for anything we do at the crown.

Keep moving forward at a smooth pace, and you will arrive in time at
your destination -- endless ecstatic bliss and outpouring divine
love!

The guru is in you.

<  Previous  |  Next  >